bioshockfandomcom-20200223-history
BioShock 2 Licensed Soundtrack
BioShock 2's licensed soundtrack reflects on Rapture's state of advanced decay after the events of BioShock. Many songs originate from an earlier period of musical theater which would become jazz and blues. The orchestral score is included with purchase of the BioShock 2 Special Edition in the CD compilation "Sounds from the Lighthouse", and the game soundtrack is released digitally for purchase in two forms; Standard Edition with twelve tracks, and Special Edition with six additional tracks some of which do not play in-game. The game itself contains many more songs that are not included on the official soundtrack. Background While BioShock focused more on the bright poppy songs of the era and the advocacy of commercialism tightly approved under Andrew Ryan's guidance, audio lead Michael Kamper and creative director Jordan Thomas tried to explore a broader range. Foremost was the usage of religion in Sofia Lamb's policies that she used to manipulate public perception of Ryan. The ongoing Civil War is back-dropped with Kay Kyser's "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" as the lyrics say that "We're all between perdition and the deep blue sea!". Lamb's followers had become disenfranchised with the lack of regulation, making less than minimum wage and going home hungry. Wanting to believe in hope, they turned to spirituality and the blues, conveniently provided by Lamb. Other songs were meant to reflect the tragedy of Rapture and the dangers that lurk behind corners which accompany Henry Hall's "Hush, Hush, Hush Here Comes The Bogey-man". Several songs from the first game return in the multiplayer as emblematic of time closer to Rapture's heyday. But others are also re-featured in the single-player partly due to their popularity and to serve as a counterpoint to their first appearance. For example, the cheery lyrics of Patti Page's "How Much is that Doggie In The Window?" were first used in Sinclair Spirits in Fort Frolic to contrast with the first appearance of an unmoving row of Plastered Splicers. It reappears in the Journey to the Surface ride in Ryan Amusements, harkening back to the childish nature of the novelty song, but echos among the ruined artificial set pieces.Destructoid interview: The music of BioShock 2 In addition, developer Karla Zimonja help to source some of the soundtrack from archive.org which inspired the use of another Adrian Rollini song in 2013's Gone Home.Gone Home developer commentary: Karla - Adrian Rollini (walkthrough @ 25:45) This is our old timey record that we got uh, from Archive.org, source of all good things. Um, it's um by Adrian Rollini, um when he was with apparently the Tap Room Gang. Uh, the song is entitled "Got a Need For You" um in case you can't read, but you should be able to read it. And the duck I found on the internet. Um the uh Adrian Rollini was I got into him when I was on BioShock 2 and helping uh source the soundtrack for that. And I did a lot of listening to um 40s uh big band stuff and Adrian Rollini was one of those that I really liked. And it was so cool to um be able to revisit that. Before BioShock 2's release, a promotional Rapture Radio broadcast was held from February 9, 2010 to April 29 which previewed the in-game soundtrack as well as several others. Standard Edition †Featured on the Rapture Radio broadcast Special Edition Only †Featured on the Rapture Radio broadcast In Game Only Additional songs Note: This song is licensed by the production music company "Extreme Music". It takes heavy inspiration from Santo and Johnny's 1959 song, "Sleep Walk". Gallery StandardCD.jpg|Cover art of the standard edition compilation. SpecialCD.jpg|Cover art of the Special Edition compilation. Behind the Scenes *It was often rumored that the songs "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll away)" and "It Had to Be You" as heard in the game were performed by Django Reinhardt, given the song credits. However, while Reinhardt did perform his own renditions of both songs, the songs as heard in the game are not his, and were actually performed by The Faux Frenchmen, who used Django Reinhardt-inspired melodies. External links *"Download The BioShock 2 Soundtrack On Tuesday" article by Mike Fahey on Kotaku *Special Edition and Standard Edition soundtracks on Amazon.com References Category:Game Extras Category:BioShock 2 Category:BioShock 2 Multiplayer Category:Protector Trials DLC Category:Minerva's Den (DLC)